PINEHURST, N.C. – Tyrrell Hatton could see his manager giggling in the back of the interview tent left of Pinehurst No. 2’s 10th hole.
Asked if he can usually gauge how he will perform at these major championships when he first steps on site, Hatton immediately thought back to Monday when he began his U.S. Open preparation.
“He knows that I’ve been an absolute head case, even more so in the practice days,” Hatton said. “I mean, I literally didn’t think I was going to break 80.”
He then stepped on the 10th tee that afternoon, took a practice swing and suddenly his mood shifted.
“That actually felt right,” he said to himself.
Then he hit the fairway.
“OK, that was a nice feeling,” he added.
A few days later on Thursday afternoon, Hatton was signing for a 2-under 68 that left him just three shots off the lead. His round included some good breaks and some bad breaks. Hatton’s best break was when he struck his tee shot at the 213-yard, par-3 17th hole. He immediately dropped his 5-iron and kicked at the turf in disgust as his ball sailed right at the flag. His ball then barely cleared the bunker, had some of its momentum killed by the fringe and rolled up to just inside of 10 feet.
“I feel like I faded it a bit and hit it out of the toe,” Hatton said. “It’s just a disgusting feeling. But, yeah, I didn’t even see where it landed.”
Pretty good shot, if we're being honest. 😏@TyrrellHatton now 2 under and T-4. pic.twitter.com/sNmPTocoxp
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024
Hatton rolled in the putt for one of his three birdies on the day. He had just one bogey, which could be at least partly explained by Hatton’s theory that the tougher a course is, the more other players discover what it’s like to live between Hatton’s ears on a weekly basis.
“I guess in some ways, with it being harder a lot of guys sort of losing their head, it sort of brings them to my level because I just lose my head every week,” Hatton said with a big smile. “They can kind of experience what it’s like in my head for a week. But no, I mean, it’s a challenge. I’ve done really well today, but still hopefully three days ahead of us. It’s only going to get harder from here, I think. Imagine they won’t be overly pleased there’s a couple of guys at 5 under.”
Also asked if he believed in the golf gods, Hatton responded in a hopeful tone.
“Well, I feel like if there is a golf god, I’ve got a few in the bank, some good breaks,” he said. “Every golfer, we all think we’re the worst done by with the breaks that we get.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got a few in the locker, a few good ones.”
